It’s been less than a quarter since the last MCU film, Avengers: Infinity War, graced theaters worldwide and yet we have another MCU film coming up. Now, Ant-Man and the Wasp isn’t as big as the aforementioned movie (Fiefo has plenty to say about that here), but it’s still from Marvel Studios so it deserves your attention. But don’t take my word for it just like that, let me convince you that Ant-Man and the Wasp deserves to be seen in theaters. I’ve got five reasons that I hope will do just that.

Before you read further, there are several spoilers here for Ant-Man, Avengers: Infinity War, and even Avengers 4. So proceed only if you are okay with spoilers.

1. Ant-Man and the Wasp features two strong female characters in leading roles

I’m not a feminist, but I do appreciate a little diversity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in superhero films in general. So I am excited to see another female superhero in the Wasp take on equal billing in this movie. Sure, the Wasp is not first female superhero to have a leading role (that goes to Wonder Woman), but she does continue that trend.

Another character who isn’t the first at this is Ghost, the film’s main antagonist (at least based on current marketing). To be honest, I don’t know all that much about the MCU version of Ghost. What I can say is I am highly interested in seeing a bumbling male character like Scott Lang get shown up by both his female partner (the highly capable Hope van Dyne) and his female opponent (the aforementioned Ghost).

2. Ant-Man and the Wasp has an excellent cast of actors

It was such a treat to see someone like Michael Douglas be a part of a superhero film, and he’ll be back for this sequel. Paul Rudd brought his usual charming and well-meaning loser character, and Evangeline Lilly was solid in her role. The rest of the supporting cast from the previous film is also returning, special mention of course goes to the scene-stealing Michael Peña.

Joining them are Hollywood vets Michelle Pfeiffer and Laurence Fishburne. Both actors will portray characters from Hank Pym’s past, so I can’t wait to see the dynamics between all three actors. Side note: It’s funny how both Samuel L. Jackson and Laurence Fishburne are now part of the MCU, given how Jackson gets mistaken for the latter quite frequently that he had to wear this shirt once:

To round up the list is Walton Goggins, who caught my attention in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight where he was able to hold his own against people like Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell. He did okay in this year’s Tomb Raider and I’m hoping that he can bring more to the table in Ant-Man and the Wasp (not to knock on the character of Ghost, but I have a feeling that Goggins’ character will be revealed as the true villain of the film).

3. Ant-Man and the Wasp serves as a palate cleanser

One of the common criticisms that I’ve seen around the time of the MCU’s Phase Two films is how superhero films in general keep escalating with major events, and that was quite true at the time. Marvel has since learned from their previous experiences, giving us smaller, more character-driven storylines throughout Phase Three. And Ant-Man and the Wasp is precisely that.

We all know by now how big of an event Infinity War covered and it looks like the upcoming Captain Marvel film will also cover a major war (the conflict between the Skrulls and the Kree), so a more intimate tale featuring two of Marvel’s smallest superheroes would serve as a good breather from all the other world-ending events. Ant-Man and the Wasp looks like it will focus a lot of the interactions between the different characters: Scott Lang to Hope van Dyne, Scott Lang to Hank Pym, Scott Lang to his crew, Hope van Dyne to Hank Pym, Hank Pym to Bill Foster, etc.

4. Ant-Man and the Wasp is Marvel’s version of a buddy-cop movie

Some time during Phase Two, Marvel Studios started marketing their films as representations of different movie genres – Guardians of the Galaxy was their space opera, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is their political thriller, Ant-Man was their heist film, and Spider-Man: Homecoming was an homage to 80’s teen flicks.

Well, now Marvel’s got their own version of the “buddy cop” movie, a genre that involves the pairing of two heroes with conflicting personalities and/or characteristics. Why is this a reason to see Ant-Man and the Wasp? Well, because audiences generally find the dynamics and interactions between conflicting characters to be entertaining. Some examples to prove my point: The Lethal Weapon series, the Men in Black series (gotta love J and K), the Rush Hour series, the Jump Street series, the Bad Boys movies… and so on. And we haven’t seen a good buddy cop movie since… 22 Jump Street last 2014? So those who enjoy these types of films should catch this one.

5. Ant-Man and the Wasp will tie into Avengers 4

This is pure speculation on my part (and I’ve been wrong before), but my gut tells me that this film will have strong tie-ins to Avengers 4. First of all, it looks like the events in Ant-Man and the Wasp happen before Thanos performs his finger snap in Avengers: Infinity War. But if chronologically, this movie should have come before Avengers 3, why show it after? The placement I think is deliberate because Ant-Man and the Wasp contains a clue on how the Avengers are going to solve the finger snap crisis.

Now the plot of Ant-Man and the Wasp, based on the trailers, is that Hank Pym has been trying to get into the Quantum Realm and his equipment had been stolen by Ghost. Of course, he’s trying to do that because Janet van Dyne (Hope’s mother, the original Wasp), is trapped there after going sub-atomic:

 

In Ant-Man, Pym warned Scott Lang not to go sub-atomic, because he would enter a reality where all concepts of time and space would become irrelevant:

Leaked Avengers 4 set photos shows Ant-Man hanging out with Steve Rogers in his Avengers 1 uniform and Tony Stark in a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, so the setting of that scene looks like it takes place between Avengers 1 and The Winter Soldier. But Scott Lang only took on the Ant-Man identity after Age of Ultron, so it’s likely that Ant-Man has a way to travel back into the past.

Again, this is all speculation aided by a couple of clues here and there. But it’s looking like Ant-Man and the Wasp will have details that will be important to fully appreciating Avengers 4, so are you willing to risk missing out on that? Ant-Man and the Wasp isn’t going to be as big of a movie as Avengers: Infinity War was, and that’s okay. It’s still going to be good, and it’s going to be an important “episode” in the ongoing Infinity War storyline that Marvel Studios is trying to tell.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is scheduled for release in several countries from July 4 to 6, 2018. Will you go and see it? Let us know why (or why not) by leaving a comment or two below!